Six for Sunday #1

#SixforSunday is a weekly MEME hosted by A Little But a Lot, this week’s prompt is:

Favourite first book in a series

I thought this prompt was going to be challenging in that I tend to prefer second books in a series the best. As I was going through my Goodreads shelves, however, I realized that wasn’t as much the case as I thought it was and I had a bit of a struggle narrowing down my list, so of course I’ve also included some honourable mentions.

My picks

❥Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
I read books three and four in this series last year and I really didn’t like them, where as I love Little Women so this was a no-brainer. I might be cheating a bit here though, because I’m not actually sure if I prefer Little Women or Good Wives. If you’re unfamiliar with Little Women it follows four sisters in New England during the Civil War (~1861) as they grow up.

❥Defy the Stars by Claudia Grey
Again, this one was pretty easy as I love this first book and think it can be read as a standalone, whereas I wasn’t as big a fan of the other books in the series. Defy the Stars follows a soldier named Noemi who has a chance encounter with an enemy AI.

❥Cracked by Eliza Crewe
Soul Eaters is one of my all-time favourite series. Cracked sets up the series perfectly, and Meda is especially snarky and questionable in this first novel, I love it. Cracked follows a half-demon, half-human named Meda who believes she is the only one of her kind. One day, in the middle of one of her human meals, she runs into demons and demon hunters. Meda tricks the demon hunters into thinking she’s harmless in order to infiltrate their base and learn more about herself. 

❥The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
Listen, I don’t know how any book following this one could have ever been as good. The set up and thought put into this novel was absolute perfection and a story has never unfolded as perfectly as this one. The Fifth Season is a masterpiece. The Fifth Season takes place in a world where there are people who can control the movements of the earth. We follow Essun who is on a search for her missing daughter.

❥Renegades by Marissa Meyer
Aside from Cracked and The Fifth Season, there may be a common theme here. While I loved Renegades, the other two novels in this series fell a bit flat for me (especially the last book). Renegades is always going to be a novel I love though, because Adrian Everhart is one of my favourite characters ever. Renegades takes place in a world where prodigies exist, people with superpowers, and it’s their job to control crime and run the city. We follow two characters, Adrian Everhart, son of one of the city’s most important people and Nova Artino, an enemy to the Renegades who is looking to take them down from the inside.

❥Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
I stand by the first Study series (but not so much the Soulfinder series). Poison Study can be read as a standalone in my opinion, but if you want more world building and exploration then I recommend continuing on in the series. Poison Study is a fantastic novel and I love how different the premise is from most other books I read. Poison Study follows a young woman named Yelena who, to avoid a death sentence, becomes the food taster for her country’s commander.

Honourable mentions (companion series)

I thought I’d mention a few of my favourite first books in a companion series. All these books can be read as standalones, and they’re easily the best in their series. They’re all incredible so I highly recommend you check them out if you haven’t already!

❥Graceling by Kristin Cashore
❥The Long Way to a Small and Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
❥Howl’s Moving Castle by Dianna Wynne Jones
❥Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer

Honorable mentions (unfinished series)

And lastly I thought I’d mention some first books I love from series that are still on-going or that I have yet to finish.

❥The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams
❥The Diviners by Libba Bray
❥The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi
❥My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows
❥The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington
❥Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa
❥A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
❥When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
❥The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

I’d love to know what your favourite first book in a series is! Happy reading! 💗